Bach's Musical Universe
The Composer and His Work
Published on 24. March 2020
Book
Hardback
432 pages
978-0-393-05071-4 (ISBN)
Description
In this companion volume to Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, Christoph Wolff contextualises his famous subject by delving deeply into the composer's rich collection of music. Emerging from this complex and massive oeuvre, Bach's Musical Universe is a focused discussion of a meaningful selection of compositions.
Unlike any previous study, this book details Bach's creative process across the various instrumental and vocal genres, and centres on what the composer himself judiciously presented in carefully designed benchmark collections and individual works-all consequential to Bach's musical art. Tracing Bach's evolution as a composer, Wolff compellingly illuminates the ideals and legacy of this giant of classical music in a new, refreshing light for everyone, from the amateur to the virtuoso.
Unlike any previous study, this book details Bach's creative process across the various instrumental and vocal genres, and centres on what the composer himself judiciously presented in carefully designed benchmark collections and individual works-all consequential to Bach's musical art. Tracing Bach's evolution as a composer, Wolff compellingly illuminates the ideals and legacy of this giant of classical music in a new, refreshing light for everyone, from the amateur to the virtuoso.
Reviews / Votes
"If Wolff's first book, could be described in its simplest terms as "Bach in his world ', his second is "Bach in eternity"." -- Lindsay Kemp - Gramophone "...a very welcome and scholarly complement to the earlier biography that focuses more intensely on the music itself, the thought and compositional processes that created it... As we have come to expect from Professor Wolff, the book is meticulously prepared, supported by numerous tables, footnotes, and extensive bibliography. Readers will be particularly drawn to the detailed chronology, clearly set out for easy reference and fascinating reading in itself." -- Margaret Steinitz - Journal of the London Bach SocietyMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Illustrations
85 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 40 mm
Weight
734 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-393-05071-4 (9780393050714)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2020
W. W. Norton & Company
€36.99
Available for download
Person
Christoph Wolff is Adams University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, where he taught from 1976 to 2012. A former director of the Bach Archive in Leipzig, Germany, he is the author of numerous works of music history including Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Biography, and Mozart at the Gateway to His Fortune: Serving the Emperor, 1788-1791, winner of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award. Wolff lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.